/ DonatE
Accelerate THE SPACE Between
The most powerful solutions to our most complex challenges don't come from any single organization. They emerge from the relationships, shared intelligence, and collaborative infrastructure that connect them. Your donation funds this connective tissue — the network coordination, democratic funding processes, and cross-sector collaborations that turn fragmented efforts into a coherent movement for civic transformation.
The OpenCivics Network offers tax deductible one-time or recurring donations in fiat and crypto-currencies as a fiscally hosted project of the Buckminster Fuller Institute.
/ Our Impact
The Network Effect in Numbers
$361K+
Distributed to civic innovators across 6 community-led grant rounds.
47+
Project grants funded through collaborative network processes.
1,000+
Unique donors have participated in our grants rounds.
Through network-coordinated funding, the community — not a committee — decides where resources flow. Donors, grantees, and network members co-create funding decisions across collaborative grant rounds, democratic allocation processes, and place-based local programs. Every contribution strengthens the network itself.
/ Why Networks
The Power of Funding Networks
Your donation funds the connective tissue between organizations — the stewardship, facilitation, and relationship-building that turns isolated projects into a collaborative ecosystem of 100+ civic innovators.
Through democratic grant rounds, the network's collective intelligence decides where resources flow. Donors, grantees, and community members co-create funding decisions, building shared ownership and accountability.
Networks see what no single organization can. By connecting perspectives across domains — ecology, technology, governance, community organizing — we surface the patterns and opportunities that siloed funders miss entirely.
When projects share a network, unexpected collaborations emerge. A water policy group learns from a civic tech builder. A regenerative finance team co-designs tools with community organizers. Innovation happens in the in-between.
Every dollar strengthens the network itself. Our matching pool grew 340% in one cycle. Each round attracts new members, new partners, and new possibilities. Network funding doesn't just add up — it multiplies.
/ Why Donate
Fund Networks, Not Projects
Support Networks, Not Silos
The greatest challenges we face — from ecological crisis to social fragmentation — are deeply interconnected. No single project can solve them. That's why your donation funds the collaborative relationships between projects. In our Genesis Round, grantees spontaneously formed new collaborations during a single one-hour showcase call — water policy groups connecting with civic tech builders, community organizers finding common ground with regenerative finance teams. That's what happens when you fund a network, not a silo.
we support new cross-sector collaborations
Power Community-Led Change
We believe the people closest to a problem are best equipped to solve it. Instead of a committee dictating where money goes, we direct funding through community-led democratic processes. Our network members — the innovators on the ground — collectively decide which initiatives will create the most value. This builds deep accountability, surfaces the best ideas, and ensures resources flow where they're needed most.
1,000+ donors have democratically allocated $361K+ across 6 rounds
Strengthen the "In-Between"
The most critical work falls through the cracks of traditional funding. It's the interstitial work — the convenings, the relationship-building, the shared learning that happens between organizations. Your donation funds this network stewardship: hosting inter-organizational collaborations, convening thinkers and doers, and weaving a fragmented landscape into a resilient movement. This invisible labor is what allowed our matching pool to grow from $15,000 to $66,000 in a single round cycle.
Matching pool grew 340% — from $15K to $66K — through network stewardship
From Local to Systemic
Our model is built on subsidiarity: decisions made at the most local level possible, with learnings flowing back up to inform the whole network. Each round expands the network's reach — from civic tech in our Genesis Round to bioregional finance through BioFi, to place-based local grant programs through the Localism Fund. Every round builds infrastructure for the next.
6 rounds spanning civic tech, research, bioregional finance, and place-based localism
/ Proof of Growth
Round by Round
The first-ever OpenCivics grant round demonstrated the power of consortium-based funding. Grantees spontaneously formed new collaborations during the Grantee Showcase, and the consortium grew to nearly 100 members. The round proved that network-based quadratic funding could work for civic innovation.
A massive leap: 40% more donors, 20% more crowdfunding donations, and a 340% larger matching pool. The round introduced Cluster Matching for more equitable fund distribution and forged lasting bonds between community round operators who expressed interest in co-hosting collaborative rounds — the network model spreading organically to other communities.
The most streamlined round yet, and the most innovative. Pioneered fiat PayPal donations through viaPrize, breaking the web3 barrier so anyone can participate. Introduced a $1,000 minimum matching floor so every project receives enough funding to make meaningful progress. Research topics ranged from municipal mycology to technological metamodernism.
OpenCivics expanded beyond civic tech into bioregional finance through a partnership with the BioFi Project, the Design School for Regenerating Earth, Regen Coordination, and Gitcoin. An invite-only round for mature bioregional organizing teams building place-based financial infrastructure — proof that the network model scales across domains.
The largest round yet, and a new model entirely. The Localism Fund — co-stewarded by OpenCivics and Regen Coordination with support from Gitcoin, Celo Public Goods, Ma Earth, and the Ethereum Foundation — empowered local hubs to channel funding into community activities, showcasing Ethereum as practical infrastructure for political, economic, cultural, and ecological localism.
Expanding the Localism Fund model to Latin America, this round supports Ethereum-empowered local hubs across LATAM in hosting consistent monthly gatherings for one year following Devconnect. Selected hubs receive funding, resources, and ecosystem support to sustain community engagement, education, and collaboration — proving that network-coordinated funding can be adapted to regional contexts worldwide.
“The most important work doesn't show up in neat boxes. It shows up in relationships, shared learning, trust, mutual support, and collaboration — and those are the things that create real change."
— Catherine Dempsey, "Resourcing Relationships: Funding Community, Connection and Change"
/ Your Donation In Action
Where the Funds Go
Network
Stewardship
The human-powered work of connecting people, hosting conversations, and facilitating the collaborations that allow a consortium of civic innovators to function as a coherent network.
Democratic
Processes
Building and maintaining the community-run systems — quadratic funding rounds, participatory allocation, collective decision-making — that ensure resources flow fairly and effectively.
Shared
Infrastructure
The tools, platforms, research, and legal support that the entire network relies on. From fiat payment integrations to streaming quadratic funding prototypes, we build the rails.
Interstitial Collaborations
Funding for the new ideas that emerge between organizations — the cross-pollination projects that fall outside any single group's purview but create the most systemic impact.
/ Gratitude for
Our Funding Partners
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![Recycling symbol with black arrows on yellow background]()
Celo Public Goods
Celo Public Goods is a strategic initiative and funding program within the Celo blockchain ecosystem that supports projects that nurture a regenerative digital economy.
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![Black abstract geometric symbol with symmetrical lines and dots.]()
Ma Earth
Ma Earth is a platform that combines education, ideas, and quadratic funding grants to support regenerative land projects and planetary health initiatives by resourcing those caring for land and life.
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![Warning icon with lightning bolt and exclamation mark inside a light green pentagon]()
Lobby 3 / deCiv Fund
Lobby3 was a Web3 community and DAO founded by Andrew Yang in 2022 that used NFTs to crowdfund lobbying efforts in Washington DC, advocating for blockchain technologies and social innovation.
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![Illustration of a stopwatch with a pie chart segment highlighting a portion of time.]()
Gitcoin
Gitcoin is a blockchain-based platform on Ethereum that funds open-source software development and public goods through mechanisms like quadratic funding.
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Ethereum Foundation
Ethereum Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland that supports Ethereum's research, development, ecosystem growth, and long-term stewardship
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BioFi Project
The BioFi Project is a collective supporting bioregions to design, create, capitalize, implement, and evolve Bioregional Financing Facilities (BFFs) that connect financial resources with regenerators.
/ Take action
Fund the future of Open civic innovation
Every dollar you contribute is amplified by the network. Join 1,000+ donors who have already decided that network-coordinated funding creates systemic change.